Recording of A Source of Self-Regard: Artist Talk Featuring Ivan Forde, Niama Safia Sandy, and David L. Bell
September 29, 2020
September 17th, the Escalette Collection of Art hosted its first event in conjunction with Begin/Again: Marking Black Memories. Ivan Forde, an artist featured in the virtual exhibition, was joined by anthropologist, artist, curator, and educator Niama Safia Sandy and introduced by David L. Bell of the Visitor Welcome Center in Los Angeles.
If you didn’t have the chance to come to this event or would like to share this artist talk, please click on the link to the Zoom recording below.
After a short introduction by Lindsay Shen, Director of the Escalette Collection and David L. Bell, Ivan Forde shared images of his work and discussed some of the inspirations behind his artistic practice. Much of his work draws from the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest known poem in human history. Using collaged self-portraits, Forde casts himself as Gilgamesh and Enkidu, the two main characters in the epic who act as foils to one another. Forde’s more recent work draws heavily from his own family-history in Guyana. Specifically, Forde is interested in using methods of epic story-telling to relate the fascinating history of Buxton, his grandmother’s hometown.
